THE NEW YORKER the managing director of the Welsh factory, said. "We have meetings twice a week between workers and man- agement, and any problem that comes up we deal with straight away." Norman added, "We haven't gone as far as Honda, where the manag- ing director does calisthenics every morning with the staff. And we don't disapprove of unions. We simply think that if we are doing our job proper- ly the unions won't have much to do." A tour of Dragon Parc with N or- man is a peculiarly relaxed and chatty affair. The Bluebird factory is red brick, huge and modern, with three vast storage areas, both bigger than the biggest hangar at Panshanger. The assembly area is equally large and is staffed mostly by women, who have nimbler fingers than men and so are more adept at putting together intricate plastic toys. Norman seemed to know all of the women by name. He asked after their families or flirted with the unmarried ones, leaving them flushed with pleasure. According to Tom Charnock, that is standard Norman procedure: "He'd wander into the plant at Swindon and say, 'Good morning, I'm just going to have a . . .' He wouldn't finish the sen- tence. What he meant was that he was going to scu11 around the place and say hullo to everybody. Then, for the rest of the week, whenever I saw, say, the secretary from five offices down the corridor, she would say, 'Wasn't that wonderful, Torquil asking me about my youngster? How did he know he's still got a cold?' And I'd think, Goddam it, he's too much for me. But the truth is, he's genuinely interested in people." The same democratic principles ap- ply to the works' annual Christmas parties. The British tradition is to have separate bashes for office and factory workers, with management mingling hardly at all. But not at Bluebird. "We don't differentiate," Charnock said. "There is no set table seating. I could be sitting with the company accountant or with one of the guys from the dis- patch bay. When we threw the first Christmas party at Merthyr Tydfil, Torquil and I went down with our wives, and all the girls there brought their husbands. You have to appreciate that these are ex-miners, Welsh rugger players, tough guys by any standard, with handshakes that could crush 75 BRAHMIN. TO HAVE AND TO HOLD. --., -- , """ "- \ -. '" " \ " ........... ,, , \'-" ',," , '..... Brahmin handbags, such as the Tri-Color Collection gathered here together, bear witness to the marriage of two revered New England traditions: hand- crafted quality and practicality. A broad range of coordinating bags and small leather goods allows you to find the perfect match for your lifestyle. Available at selected Nordstroms, Macy* s, Bullocks and Parisians. g W ð cOo f .....J \.. À (. \ --. "'"--. "!-' "'t ...... ' '-,. .. .... - .. \.. \. , WEARABLE ART.. . Available at Liberty of London shops in New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., Ardmore, PA and other fine stores Liberty of London, New York, N.Y. (212) 391-2150 Liberty. The very fabric of British life.